Only A Bro
by RaeEcho
Summary: Max takes care of the younger kids, right? So, what about Iggy? Max may be prime big sister/mother material, but she's not the one Iggy turns to when he has a problem, let alone a nightmare. Includes how Iggy became blind.


A/N- Howdy my amigos! I've been attacked by an idea. (by that, I mean mugged and hit over the head with the writing crowbar wielded by my idea gnome) It goes a little something like this... Max takes care of the younger kids, right? So, what about Iggy? Max may be prime big sister/mother material, but I doubt that she's the one Iggy turns to when he has a problem.

Enjoy!

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_The lights were blinding him. Each time he passed under one of the high powered fluorescent bulbs he couldn't help the wince that occurred. His eyes hadn't transitioned from the complete darkness of sleep to intense blinding rays of artificial light. If he could, he would have shut his eyes completely and happily returned to the darkness, but, in all honesty, he was too scared._

_Not that he would ever admit it to the others, especially Max and Fang, but he was down right terrified. He had been taken out of his cage in the middle of the night, strapped to an all too familiar metal table, and rolled away from his family, who were still fast asleep in their cold prisons, unaware of the torture he was heading to. He didn't even have time to scream or wake the others before his arms were pinned and a muzzle like gag was forced over his mouth. All he could do was lay still and take whatever the white-coats dished out, and hope that whatever they did to him would leave him able to be with his flock again._

_The wheels of the table squeaked with each push of the metal slab. He could also faintly hear Erasers and scientists speaking in the background. They were talking about an operation, but he did really care. He knew that he was about to be sliced into like a piece of cake._

_He knew that he was heading to the surgical department of the school. The smells of disinfectant and chemicals told him that much. His eyes darted around trying to find something that could help him. Other than the white plaster of the walls and the blinding lights, he saw nothing. He wasn't getting out of this, whatever it was._

_Tears pricked at the corners of his eyes. He didn't want to go. He was tired of being hurt._

_In his mind, he was screaming, more like having a down right tantrum, but but the scientist were oblivious. Even if they weren't, it wasn't like they would actually help him. The only option he had left was wait and listen to the wheels of his table being pushed into the all to familiar doom room as Gazzy liked to call it._

_Iggy forced his eyes closed, he didn't want to see what they were about to do to him. The wheels stopped rolling and he felt the white-coats attach monitors on his chest. He was used to this routine, but something was different this time. Normally they would put the uncomfortable suction things on his chest and strap him down tighter than before, and be done with it. This time he felt cool metal being pressed over his forehead as well as his arms, legs, and chest. They were holding his head still. He tried to wiggle around, but he could move at all._

_Gathering all the courage he had left, he opened his eyes. The scientist were still above him, bustling about, preparing to operate, all except one. This one was coming straight into his line of vision. In his hands were strange looking clasps. Iggy didn't know what they were for, but he couldn't imagine it to be very comfortable._

_The scientist starting positioning the clasps over his eyes, and with a sickening realization he knew what they were for. They were used to hold his eyes open. Iggy couldn't move as the man pulled his eyes open as far as they would go. He couldn't fight back as the clasps were applied. He couldn't even reach up to clear his sight as the inevitable watering in his eyes occurred._

_The scientist finished positioning the clasps, and when he moved Iggy saw it. The shiny metal of a laser positioned above his head. He knew it was a laser, because having lived at the school his entire life he knew what could and could not hurt him in a lab. However, this laser troubled him. Normally the point where the beam of light came out would be just that, a point. So, why was there a pair of goggle like things attached to the end of this one?_

_Questions clouded his mind, but were quickly chased away when the noise of an engine starting filled his ears. The laser was warming up and as it did, the goggles were lowering themselves towards him. Before he could grasp what was going on the goggles were directly over his face._

_The white-coats were going to zap him from close range. Terror flooded through him. His eyelids strained against the clasps holding them, but they didn't budge._

_The red light of the laser glowed dimly within the barrel of the machine and with each passing moment, the light grew brighter. It hurt more the brighter is got._

_"Do it." He heard a voice say. On the voice's command, the laser fired._

_And for the first time in a long time, Iggy screamed._

* * *

"Wake up!" Fang yelled as loud as he could. It was a good thing that Gazzy wasn't with them, having opted to stay close to his sister after their last misadventure. Iggy was still ignoring his demands, and Fang was less than thrilled. He showed this by letting lose a string of profanities that would make a sailor blush. That's all he needed, an over protective teenage bird girl on his ass for cursing in front of a nine year old.

"Iggy, come on!" Fang started shaking the taller boy's shoulders with renewed energy. Iggy was having the most intense nightmare he had ever seen. It started thirty minutes prior and had been going strong ever since. Sweat poured out of Iggy like he sprung a leak, and his strawberry blonde bangs were plastered against his forehead. His entire form was shaking, and Fang had to resort to pining his arms and legs. He had already been punched once by a flying fist, and he was not looking for a repeat. He was already going to have to explain to the others how he managed to get a fist sized bruise across his chin in the middle of the night.

"Iggy, please dude." He pleaded, but Iggy remained trapped in his subconscious. His head was tossing from side to side, and if he didn't stop he was going to seriously hurt himself. "Iggy!" He tried again, even though he didn't expect an answer. He was wrong.

A scream let out of Iggy's throat and with it he shot straight up like the cheap motel bed had electrocuted him. To Fang's dismay, the action sent him barreling off the bed and onto the floor. On a normal day, he would have killed Iggy for that, but he could see that wasn't the right option.

Iggy's sightless eyes darted to and fro across the room almost as if he could see or he had forgotten he couldn't. Fang slowly got off the floor. He tried to be as quite as he could making his way back over to the friend he considered a brother. He couldn't risk scaring him and send him into a full blown panic attack. It was already bad enough that he was practically hyperventilating.

"Iggy?" He called out gently, and Iggy flinched violently away from the sound of his voice. His arms went up automatically to wrap themselves around his torso. It was a sign of comforting himself, but it didn't do much. His breathing was still way too erratic for his liking.

"Iggy, it's me, Fang." He said as he slowly edged himself next to Iggy on the mattress, and placed a hand on Iggy's arm. Fang winced as Iggy flinched, but he didn't jerk away. Fang took that as a sign to continue. "Are you okay?"

Iggy shook his head.

"Do you want to talk about it?"

Iggy shook his head again, but Fang could tell that was a lie. Iggy was putting on a brave face, but he saw straight through it. His younger brother was terrified out of his mind.

"You can tell me, Igs." He left his words hanging with unspoken promise of support. He had never been the mushy, Dr. Phil type. He was the one who stood by Max's side and made sure that they didn't get killed on one of Max's 'I made this up five minutes ago' plans. He was the scary, dressed in black, blogger, but he could make an exception to that just once. If he didn't get Iggy to open up, no one would. Iggy had too much pride to seek comfort in Max, and everyone else was too young to really get it.

Iggy's eyes started watering, and he brought one hand up to hover just above his eyelids, "My eyes." He mumbled.

"What about them, Iggy?"

"It hurt, Fang. It hurt so much." His voice was laced with pain and Fang could tell that exhaustion was slowly seeping into his system. He knew what the younger mutant was talking about instantly. Something that he never talked about. He would make jokes and laugh about it, but not once had he ever actually talked about what happened to him. This was his only chance to know, and he had to find out quick.

"What happened?" With his question, he felt Iggy slouch in his grip and start to lean on him. Fang didn't mind though, he knew what Iggy was doing. He wanted to make sure Fang was there, and that he wouldn't leave. When Iggy was first learning to work around his blindness he would do the exact same thing.

"Wheels rolling. Metal table, strapped. Couldn't move." Iggy said these words into the fabric of Fang's shirt and if not for the super human hearing, he would have missed the whole thing. It wasn't helping that sobs started to wrack the other's core, making all his words sound choked out and muffled.

"Red light. Brighter and brighter. It hurt."

"You're safe now. It's over, you're fine." He soothed, and he started rubbing circles on Iggy's back, between his wings. He didn't know how long the two of them sat there in the dark. The only light came from the green letters on the alarm clock, but he knew that it was long enough for his legs to fall asleep as well as Iggy.

Fast asleep with his head resting on Fang's shoulder, Iggy was out like light. He was emotionally drained, Fang didn't blame him. He just had a nightmare about the worst moment in his life, that kind of thing messes up a person. It also, apparently, messes up shirts as well, because he could feel salty tears soaking through his shirt.

Having decided that he had just had enough touchy-feely goodness for a lifetime, he carefully nudged Iggy of his shoulder and onto the bed. Iggy didn't notice a thing.

"Sleep tight." He said to Iggy's still form, and he finally made his way over to his own bed. Once he got there, he all but collapsed. The only thoughts in his head revolved around sleep, and his questions centering around when he became such a girl.

He almost laugh at the irony. He accused himself of acting like a chick, but he just did what only a true bro could.

On that note, he finally fell asleep.

* * *

A/N- I actually liked that one. I even got to include how I think Iggy became blind. (Yeah, lasers, because I can't see a scientist going Jack the Ripper on someone's eye. It's not the best way to get things done.)

Feed the idea gnome, leave a review.


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